


Echoes

by Esslyt



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Old Republic Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 18:16:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11652027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esslyt/pseuds/Esslyt
Summary: - I hate this place. – She thought to herself while navigating through the dunes. A single trip in a cargo hold from Jakku to Jedha, a planet even more desolate than Jakku, was 2000 credits. But who would want to go to Jedha after what happened with the Empire? Rakata Prime was next to Jedha, ond the edge of the Unknown Regions but that planet held no promises as well. Her best chance was Takodana, but Rey did not dear to dream going there realizing that if she asked for the price of passage, it would become obvious she would never reach there.A journey home.





	Echoes

\- Did you knew that eons ago Jakku wasn’t a barren wasteland? – An almost toothless boy grinned while chewing on his portion. Next to him, on a rock outside Niima outpost sat a thin girl with a face half buried in her first and only meal of the day. Her veg-meat was especially chewy today and she found herself almost enjoying the faint smell of polystarch. 

\- Rey? – The boy repeated noticing her lack of attention. Rey lifted her hazel eyes away from her lunch. 

\- I knew. – She answered in a soft voice. 

\- What do you think happened? – His round eyes were persistent.

\- I do not know that, Ehzo. – Even though the little boy annoyed her, she tried to remain gentle. Ehzo lived by the outpost and through the years, the boy developed a liking for Rey. Some days he would bring her some of the scraps he found around the dock. Not looking much different from a boy herself, she did not mind his company most times. He would ask the same questions repeatedly but he was the only human on Jakku, other than her grandfather who would talk to her. 

\- Aari Kaal once told us that the great earth-worm feasted on life on this planet for millennia until he drank all the rivers and only the sand remained. – Rey listened to him faintly while her eyes traveled across the rancid landscape.

\- My grandfather said there is nothing on Jakku because of the war. – Rey said still observing the horizon. Small flickering shadows of luggabeasts were the only disturbance in an otherwise uniform sea of burnt orange. – Did you know that long time ago a great war was fought between the Old Republic and The Sith Empire? Far away in The Outer Rim… - Rey paused. – They say there are worlds with gravity so weak that you can fly. – Her eyes lit up. – Or a planet with buildings so high that if you fell off, you would fly for hours. – Just thinking about lush lives outside Jakku made her jubilant beyond words.

Ehzo frowned. – That’s Coruscant. And you wouldn’t fly, you would die. And he’s not your grandfather. – He remarked mockingly.

\- No, something else. – Rey tried to recall seemingly ignoring Ehzo’s words. – Lartas showed me on the map. – She smiled revealing the set of strikingly well-kept teeth. 

\- Where did he steal a map? – Asked Ehzo while trying to pick up the remains of his polystarch with his fingers.

\- He did not steal it! – Rey protested. – He has it… - She stuttered. – He has it because of the… because he was an Empirial pilot once. Pilots need maps. – She felt her emotions bubbling inside her like a water just before boiling. She did not like to talk about Lartas not because she did not wanted to, but because she herself knew little of the man. She had a faint memory of a silver ship leaving her in a sea of sand, salty tears that rolled down her face for days and a strong grip of a balding man with yellowish beard that called himself Lartas. His full name was Lartas Sahlar Rhodi. He told her that his home planet is called Bespin, a gas giant in Bespin system. 

\- I need to go. – Said Rey in a brittle voice. – I still need to exchange these parts for rations and I need to leave before Teedos start ranging. 

\- They have been ranging further in the desert than usual. – Ehzo noted. – I hope that earth-worms eat them. 

\- It is their planet! – Rey objects. – Never mind. – Take care Ehzo. She picked up her bag and her staff, waved at the boy and rushed to Unkar Plutt’s scrap shop.  
Nowadays she went on scavenging trips alone. Lartas was getting older and weaker. She grew up climbing spaceship walls in silence, exchanging the scraps she found for food, eating her bland meal, sleeping and doing it all over again, every day. Wandering around military spaceships thought her to distinguish hydrospanner from hydro-thinner, how to use old workbenches combining old parts she found. Using the rusty engine she found she built herself a speeder, her most prized possession. 

Rey walked quickly to the Unkar’s junk shop. Yesterday she found remains of a broken rifle, some durasteel and an odd type of lens that seemed to vibrate on touch. Feeling proud of her findings, she was sure that this would insure that she and Lartas are well fed in the coming days.

Unkar was arguing with a short alien when she came. He was, like any Crolute, a being of few words, brute and aggressive. She waited patiently as the alien talked to Plutt in a series of muffled sounds. Unkar showed him off and the alien scoffed, but walked away.

\- Rey! – Said Unkar with his guttural voice. Rey slowly presented her findings placing them on a table in front of a Crolute. He took some of the pieces in his fat fingers, studied them and finally muttered – No rations. 

\- None? – Rey was surprised. Unkar started taking her scraps and throwing them at the back of his shop. – Hey, that’s mine! – She argued trying to take the lens out of his hand.

\- Keep your junk. – Unkar taunted letting Rey take her lens from him. 

\- What about the other parts, Unakr? – Rey asked. – That is at least two rations!

\- No rations. – Plutt repeated.

\- Than give me back my things. – Rey demanded. 

\- You know the policy. – Unkar leaned in. – No returns.

\- Fine. I’ll start taking my scraps to Orich. – Rey returned her lens in her bag.

\- Silly little girl. – Unkar laughed. – Orich has no rations, no one has no rations.

\- How? – Rey squinted. – Doesn’t matter, you have to pay me. – She was persistent. 

\- Here. – Said Unkar throwing what seemed to be a small pendant on a string. – Junk for junk. – He spat.

\- I cannot eat this. – She said studying the necklace. 

\- I have paid you, now move, girl, you are holding the line! – Unkar yelled. Rey pressed her lips in anger but she moved. Walking to her speeder she thought about the disappointment on grandfather’s face when she tells him she didn’t manage to return with not even one ration home.

South of the outpost, caved into a stone was a small house, abandoned a long time ago by the Teedos, species native to Jakku. Lartas, a man Rey called her grandfather, claimed the house and it resembled more to a cave than a house. But it was home nonetheless. 

\- I hate this place. – She thought to herself while navigating through the dunes. A single trip in cargo hold from Jakku to Jedha, a planet even more desolate than Jakku was 2000 credits. But who would want to go to Jedha after what happened with the Empire? Rakata Prime was next to Jedha, ond the edge of the Unknown Regions but that planet held no promises as well. Her best chance was Takodana, but Rey did not dear to dream going there realizing that if she asked for the price of passage, it would become obvious she would never reach there. 

While she was tangled up in her thoughts, she noticed at the edge of her view a small shuttle passing quickly through the atmosphere. The fire enveloped the steel that headed into inevitable doom. Just as she decided to wait for the shuttle to crash so she could scavenge the remains before the Teedos come, she saw an escape pod being launched from the side of the ship. 

\- It is heading for the quicksand. – She thought to herself and turned the speeder towards the crash site. Trying not to lose the escape pod from her sight, she started thinking about her own safety. She knew she should not go very close to the quicksand and the escape pod could have easily been launched automatically which meant she was risking her life for a pod filled with air. Nevertheless, she sped up trying to find any signs of survivors.

She found a man lying on a dune with his palms on his face. A hungry pit slowly swallowed his shuttle. 

\- Stupid, stupid… - He whispered looking for his blaster. Rey saw a glimpse of a shiny metal next to her feet and reached for it. A man turned noticing her movement as she took the blaster in her hands.

\- Whoa, easy. – A man spoke slowly raising his hands in the air. – I do not want to hurt you. – His voice was soft and somewhat childlike. Ray scoured his leather jacket for any familiar sign. The simple jacket had no visible signs of any galactic faction known to Rey.

\- I am a merchant. - He said noticing her curious look. He was no taller than Rey, dark-skinned with round brown eyes. His upper lip was bruised and his forehead was bleeding. 

Rey squinted her eyes in disbelief. – There are no merchants on Jakku. 

\- No…? – The man asked. – Well I am. I was just passing from the Unknown regions to Hosnian Prime and I wanted to refuel on Jakku. – He explained. – I would not have crashed if it were not for the damn blockade. 

\- Blockade? – Rey repeated after him.

\- Yes, this whole damn planet is blocked by the New Order fleet. No one comes, no one goes and no one docks on the planet while they are up there. Do you know what a blockade means? – The man was agitated.

\- I know what a blockade means. – Rey defended herself. – I am not an idiot. So… do you have a ship? – Rey asked without hesitation. – Can you give me passage to Takodana?

\- Look, prettyface, my ship just crashed. – The young man remarked. – And how do you expect me to give you a ride to Takodana while you still have a blaster pointed at me? 

\- Oh, sorry. – Rey grinned. – I’ll keep this. – She said taking the blaster. – Your ship is still in orbit, right? – She persisted.

\- My ship? – The man seemed confused. – My ship, yes, yes, in orbit. And my crew. – He slightly nodded cleaning the sand off his pants. 

\- If I give you a place to sleep tonight, will you take me to Takodana? – She asked. 

\- Yes. – The man sighed. – Like I have some other choice. – He whispered, making sure she couldn’t hear him. 

\- I’m Rey. – She said, offering him a handshake.

\- Finn. – Said Finn reaching out and quickly shaking her thin hand. 

\- No last name? – Rey asked as they walked towards the speeder. – No. – Answered Finn.

\- Funny – She smiled. – Me neither.

She gave him a pair of handmade goggles explaining that he has to wear them if he doesn’t want to go blind. Rey’s speeder made all sorts of funny sounds that made Finn clench his seat in fear. It wasn’t the best speeder, it wasn’t even a good one, but it made the ride from her home to Niima outpost shorter and more exciting than on foot. 

They just passed the last hill before her home when Rey heard the high-pitch beep of a sentry droid and immediately slowed down. Down in the valley she saw three shadows moving in front of her home. Grabbing the binoculars from her bag she tried to recognize who they were. With their stiff movement and unnatural posture it was evident those were droids. 

\- What is going on? – Finn asked.

\- Shhhh… - Rey shushed him. – Someone is here. 

\- Who? – Finn felt the cold sweat pierce the skin of his forehead. 

\- I heard a sentry droid. If he detected us, they will be coming for us as well and they do not seem friendly. – Rey said jumping off her speeder. Finn followed her. Soon they were laying in sand watching the situation unfold. Finn bit his full lips nervously while Rey tried to tune her binoculars so she could her what they were talking.

\- Observation: There are two more organics in a one-mile radius. – One of the droids spoke in a stoic voice.

\- Affirmation: Indeed, my sensors are registering two more organic life forms. – It paused. – Statement: Those organics are not in our objective. 

Watching from a hill Rey froze in place. She never saw a droid that was anything like that. They were tall as humans with red lights instead of eyes. Their bodies were made of shiny silver durasteel and they moved effortlessly. Both of them held bowcasters. 

\- Those are HK units. – Finn stated hearing them through a small speaker on the binoculars. – Assassin droids. 

Rey was in shock. Assassin droids at her home. On Jakku? – My grandfather… - She whispered. The speakers filled with static and she could no longer hear anything. But she saw. She saw Lartas being thrown on his knees and being tortured with an electric staff. Her body moved with a will of his own and she found herself standing up.

\- No! – Finn pulled her on the ground again. – If they are assassin droids it means they are with either the New Order or the Exchange. And trust me, you don’t want to get in the way no matter which one it is. – Rey felt her face cramping in pain.

\- …wholesome bounty on your head… - they heard a human voice through the static. Rey stared at the goggles like she was trying to force the sound out of them. Nothing.

Soon they heard a low hum of large speeders as the group of assassins left her home. As she thought, they took Lartas with them. If it wasn’t for Finn she might have get there in time, to see him, to defend him. And if it wasn’t for Finn to stop her, she might have been taken too.

\- We need to go and get him back! – She tried to hold back the tears. In one moment, he was gone.

-Are you out of your mind? – Finn grabbed her by the shoulders. – You heard them, there is a bounty on his head. He will be dead as soon as they reach Nal Hutta or worse, be sold to the Hutts. 

\- Why him? – She gasped for breath. – He did nothing. 

\- Calm yourself. – Finn looked her directly in the eye. – He must have been someone important if someone who hates him hired the Exchange to kill him.

\- He was no one, just Lartas. – Rey couldn’t hold her tears anymore and one shy salty drop rolled down her pale cheek.


End file.
